Making solar panel cells in the UAE could boost the growing renewable energy sector.
That’s according to Zoheir Hamedi, regional programme officer for the Middle East and North Africa at the International Renewable Energy Agency.
Mr Hamedi said a forthcoming report from Irena assessing renewable technology manufacturing in the Arab region, including the UAE, pinpointed one area that needed boosting.
"The gap which exists … is making the cells which go onto the panels," he told The National during Irena's 15th council meeting in Abu Dhabi last week.
“The UAE can already make panels here but they import the solar cells from mainly China. This … is highly automated and where all Arab countries share a gap.”
Mr Hamedi said a project to make the cells in Dubai’s Jebel Ali freezone was under way and this could allow the UAE to export them across the region. “They can compete in the regional market to provide panels in Arab League countries as customs are low.”
At the Irena conference in Abu Dhabi, it was revealed that jobs in the renewable energy industry worldwide hit 10.3 million last year — a 5.3 per cent increase on 2016. Irena estimates that jobs in renewables in Middle East, North Africa and Turkey stand at about 119,000. Two thirds are in Turkey, while Algeria, Egypt, Jordan and Tunisia account for about 30,000 jobs. Firm data for the UAE and Saudi Arabia is not yet available. But the UAE is moving towards potentially creating up to 100,000 jobs in the renewable energy sector by 2030. And it aims to get 44 per cent of power from renewables and nuclear by 2050.
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UAE looks to create hundreds of thousands of jobs in renewable sector
The UAE is steadfast in its support and deployment of renewable energy solutions
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“In Dubai, studies show it’s cheaper to produce electricity from renewables than importing gas. Policy makers in the UAE are aware of that. That’s why we’ve seen targets for UAE jump so quickly,” said Mr Hamedi, who is from Algeria.
The region is embracing renewables for different reasons. For exporters such as the UAE, domestic consumption is rising and renewables allow the country to preserve enough oil resources to export to international markets. For importers such as Jordan, where 97 per cent of oil and gas is brought in from abroad, they need to develop renewables to reduce this, ease the financial burden and free money for development.
But the UAE is also embracing renewables to diversify the economy, create jobs and boost other sectors. “They are looking at renewables from the window of social and economic benefit,” said Mr Hamedi, who has visited the Mohammed bin Rashid solar park in Dubai. But moves in the renewable direction started early such as the establishment of Masdar in 2006. “The leading country in the perspective has been the UAE since the very beginning.
“The UAE is doing very good in that perspective but if there is one thing to work on – it’s capacity building to include more and more Emiratis into the sector.”
The two-day Irena meeting ended on Wednesday and was attended by delegations from across the globe including Germany, Ireland, Jordan, UAE, Turkey and China on ways to boost renewables. A spokesperson for the Irish delegation said membership of Irena was important because it provided practical advice and support.
"Membership provides improved access for Ireland to data and expertise which complements EU and IEA (International Energy Agency) research, analysis and support in relation to renewable energy technology and policy developments," the spokesperson said.
Mr Hamedi, meanwhile, also commented on the growing public awareness in the UAE about of the importance of recycling.
“I’ve been travelling around the Arab world since my childhood. The Arab world is my area ... and the country where you see bins for plastic and paper is UAE. The industry exists,” he said.
“[Abu Dhabi] is the best location for a renewable energy organisation to be based. It sends a message to all oil-exporting countries that this is the energy of future and we should all be involved in it and all have an interest in developing.”
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The Perfect Couple
Starring: Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, Jack Reynor
Creator: Jenna Lamia
Rating: 3/5
The winners
Fiction
- ‘Amreekiya’ by Lena Mahmoud
- ‘As Good As True’ by Cheryl Reid
The Evelyn Shakir Non-Fiction Award
- ‘Syrian and Lebanese Patricios in Sao Paulo’ by Oswaldo Truzzi; translated by Ramon J Stern
- ‘The Sound of Listening’ by Philip Metres
The George Ellenbogen Poetry Award
- ‘Footnotes in the Order of Disappearance’ by Fady Joudah
Children/Young Adult
- ‘I’ve Loved You Since Forever’ by Hoda Kotb
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
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Sinopharm vaccine explained
The Sinopharm vaccine was created using techniques that have been around for decades.
“This is an inactivated vaccine. Simply what it means is that the virus is taken, cultured and inactivated," said Dr Nawal Al Kaabi, chair of the UAE's National Covid-19 Clinical Management Committee.
"What is left is a skeleton of the virus so it looks like a virus, but it is not live."
This is then injected into the body.
"The body will recognise it and form antibodies but because it is inactive, we will need more than one dose. The body will not develop immunity with one dose," she said.
"You have to be exposed more than one time to what we call the antigen."
The vaccine should offer protection for at least months, but no one knows how long beyond that.
Dr Al Kaabi said early vaccine volunteers in China were given shots last spring and still have antibodies today.
“Since it is inactivated, it will not last forever," she said.
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Brief scoreline:
Tottenham 1
Son 78'
Manchester City 0